Atheism is like a religion of itself. I, being an atheist myself, believe this. With that said, if Atheism is a default "setting" (for lack of better terms), why can't Catholicism be the default position? I started out as a believer; going to church, listening to sermons and praying. It wasn't until I connected the dots with other religions and found out asking: what makes our God special over others? So could you say I was born a Christian? If what you state is true, then you are assuming that everyone is an atheist upon birth. I don't believe that. I believe that atheism is not a default position. There is no proof that atheism is spontaneously created in the beginning. I think it is a religion of itself and deserves as much preaching and acceptance as Christians proclaim their beliefs to be.

Atheism is the lack of a belief in a god. The moment we are born, we have no beliefs at all. All babies are born Atheists.That's why it's the default position. The only way to be a Theist is to learn what a God is and choose to believe in it. That means you must BECOME a Theist from the default position of being an Atheist. Nobody is born a Theist. If you lose your faith in a God, you automatically (without having to choose to) go back to the default position of being an Atheist.

I first want to say I apologize for not following such a simple rule of the first round. My mind just got ahead of itself. But back to what you said previously. If Atheism is the lack of belief in God, that means you must first understand what you don't believe in. As a baby, you are basically a blank slate and how you grow up is completely up to you. You don't know anything. It is not that you don't believe in God as a baby, its that you don't even know what a God is. Atheist Family? You will most likely become an atheist. Theist family? You will most likely become some form of a theist. Your religion is solely based on your experience and that can turn you towards a belief you feel is right and believable to you. I would consider the definition a little vague for this debate and consider other evaluations in the upcoming rounds. Just advice, so we can have a straight forward debate about the topic rather than debating what the topic actually is.

I want to thank my opponent for agreeing with me and admitting Atheism is the default position.

My opponent admits "As a baby, you are basically a blank slate". I agree! That's why a baby LACKS A BELIEF IN GOD,

My opponent goes on to say " It is not that you don't believe in God as a baby, its that you don't even know what a God is!"BINGO! Once again I agree! If you don't know what a god is, you lack the belief in a god!

But wait...my opponent also claims, "If Atheism is the lack of belief in God, that means you must first understand what you don't believe in."Well, does a baby with a blank slate understand what they don't believe in? No. But a baby is an atheist because it lacks the belief in a god.

My opponent also contradicts himself. First he says "how you grow up is completely up to you."By then he says "Theist family? You will most likely become some form of a theist."

Well then it's not "completely up to you" if it depends on what your family is! It's either what you completely decide on your own or it's what your family is.

I should completely ignore what my opponent said in the first round, because it was against the rules, but I will point out that Atheism is not a religion.Atheism has no dogma, no world view, no holy book, no central authority, no deity to pray to or worship, no rituals, and no tenants. So how can it be a religion?!?

I'd like to ask my "atheist" opponent what deity he prays to, what holy book he reads and what rituals he performs, since he claims atheism is a religion.

To answer my opponent's question, "why can't Catholicism be the default position?"My opponent already answered that! He said "As a baby, you are basically a blank slate" so you don't believe in a god, which means you are born an atheist.

One more thing: My opponent said "There is no proof that atheism is spontaneously created in the beginning."I agree! Atheism is not created! It's the default position. It doesn't need to be created! That's why there's no proof that it is created!

Atheist cannot be the default position because it is the opposite of thest. To become the opposite you have to start as a theist and become atheist. Just check out earlier debates on this. Im pretty sure the Pro here was the one who lost that debate too.

The default position is the starting point. It's like an un-stretched rubber band. It's the way a rubber band is before you stretch it. If you stop stretching a rubber band, it goes back to the default position un-stretched.

Reasons for voting decision: Con really shot him/herself in the foot with the 2nd round argument. Pro jumped all over it, and easily won the debate based on that. Conduct to Pro for Con's breaking the rule of 1st round acceptance, as well as forfeiting.

Reasons for voting decision: Con forfeiting the final round is enough to lose the argument, but the argument was won by pro regardless. Atheism is not a religion and Con also provides multiple arguments that supports Pro, based on the definition set at the beginning of the debate.

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